psychology in her practical application It is subdivided into age, child, zoopsychology, clinical, criminal, judicial, medical, social, neuropsychology, sexology, characterology and some others.
Each direction has its own history of development, its field of application and its theorists and practitioners. The reason is that different directions human activity require completely different psychological support, and this led to the division of a single science of psychology into separate areas, which began to further develop independently. Consider the types of psychology and their features separately.
Age-related psychology studies the characteristics of the psyche of people in different age periods and gives recommendations for the correction of mental disorders, taking into account age features. One approach for infants, another for preschoolers, a third for elementary school students, and so on. Specialists in developmental psychology in demand in counseling centers.
Child psychology studies the behavior of children of different ages and gives recommendations on how to promote their correct mental development. Specialists in child psychology are needed to help in the work preschool institutions and schools.
Zoopsychology studies the behavioral features and mental reactions of various animals. These developments are necessary for trainers, zoo workers and just people who have pets at home.
Sexology studies the sexual life of people, develops methods for its improvement. Achievements of sexology are used by sexopathologists.
Medical psychology and psychiatry necessary for the treatment of patients with mental disorders, with problematic behavior that violates public order and rules.
Forensic psychology used in court when deciding whether a person is guilty of a crime. First, the mental sanity of a person is established, and only then is a sentence pronounced on him.
criminal psychology helps in the work of the investigating authorities, is used to catch criminals, with its help miscalculate possible situations and the reaction of the perpetrator and his victim.
Characterology studies the types of characters of people, especially temperament. Her achievements are used by employees of marriage agencies, selecting couples for dating. It is also necessary for workers recruitment agencies and simply to the heads in organizations for the successful selection of personnel for a specific area of work.
Neuropsychology studies the features of the work of the human brain and the influence of these features on the psyche of each individual.
There are other types of psychology that are interested in other areas of human life. Their number is steadily growing.
Svetlana Lenkova, Expert in deep career guidance, psychologist, trainer.
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Psychological help- a set of measures aimed at assisting citizens in preventing, resolving psychological problems overcoming the consequences of crisis situations, including by activating the citizens' own capabilities for self-prevention, resolving emerging psychological problems, overcoming the consequences of crisis situations and creating the necessary conditions for this, informing citizens about the causes of psychological problems and ways, means of preventing and resolving them, on the development of personality, its self-improvement and self-realization.
Kinds psychological help
· Psychoprophylaxis (prevention).
· Psychological education (in counseling, in psychoprophylaxis - lectures, seminars) Adler was one of the leading experts in this field.
· Psychodiagnostics (detection of problems and other psychological indicators).
· Psychological counseling(psychological assistance to people who are within the psychological norm in adaptation, development and expansion of personal potential).
Psychotherapy (aimed at solving deep personal problems and deep transformation of the personality), can be clinical and non-clinical.
Psychiatry ( medical view help, the use of medicines, or humanistic psychiatry, which considers a person not as a patient, but as a person with a different worldview, uses medicines to a limited extent, therefore, follows the psychotherapeutic path).
Psychocorrection (restoration of the norm, as with the so-called. emotional state, and with the so-called personality traits).
Types of psychological assistance cannot be strictly diluted. There are areas of intersection. The criterion is who provides assistance (the difference in education), with whom the specialist works with the client or patient (the criterion of the norm is adaptation), what helps (use medicines, psychotherapeutic, counseling techniques).
The process of psychological assistance: duration, stages, position of the psychologist.
First meeting
The process of psychological assistance begins with a meeting.
In living the first meeting with the client, there is literally not a single detail that is not important for the successful implementation of the first contact: from facial expression, gaze, intonation and distance from the client (optimal - 1.5 m) to introducing the client into the semantics of counseling and psychotherapeutic work. Of course, all subsequent psychological work cannot be determined by the first meeting, and the experience of psychological help as retraining, education or psychotherapy goes through several stages, but in counseling work, in particular, the matter may be limited to a single conversation. This is why the initial contact is given so much importance.
What is necessary and desirable for the successful implementation of the first consultation conversation?
Information. In principle, it is desirable (as the practice of advisory work in many countries shows) that before the first meeting, for example, during the appointment for a consultation, the client provides orienting formal information about himself approximately in the following volume: name and surname, age, profession and education, family status, by whom he was directed, whether he has experience of communicating with a psychiatrist or psychologist. The presence of such formal information releases work time psychologist and client for meaningful work.
Psychodiagnostic examination. In some cases (professional consultation or other situation requiring non-medical psychotherapy), preliminary personal diagnostics is useful. This makes it easier to navigate personality traits client and his condition. If the examination is carried out before the consultation, it is better that it is not carried out by the consultant psychologist himself, but by his employees or colleagues.
What is undesirable and contraindicated for a successful first meeting?
It is undesirable to load yourself with information about the personality and life of the client, which does not come from him personally. It is undesirable: to argue with the client, to refute his statements (this does not mean, of course, that the psychologist is obliged to agree with the client in everything, to share his delusions or obvious prejudices, but to actively oppose them from the spot is unprofessional); praise the client or reassure without apparent reason; make false promises; interpret his behavior or evaluate actions and deeds; ask the client additional questions about aspects of life or issues to which he is particularly sensitive; convince the client of the need to work with you or another psychologist; support the client in his attacks on other persons (parents, children, spouse, other specialist, etc.). In addition, trends in the perception of psychologists + consultants should be taken into account. From psychological research At least the following features of the perception of psychologists + consultants by clients are known:
physically attractive psychologists are perceived more positively than unattractive ones; the same psychologists are perceived differently depending on what problem the client comes with - personal or social (loss of job, professional consultation); people are more inclined to rely on those professionals whose sociocultural values (religious, ideological) do not diverge from their own; people differ in their assessments of the degree to which a psychologist conforms to the social norms of well-being and status accepted in society ( marital status, compliance with the “face of the profession”, the degree of apparent well-being, etc.). These and many other circumstances, not to mention reputation and authority, play a role in the holding of the first meeting.
Now let's move on to the description of the actual consultation conversation.. Let's start with a definition. Consultative conversation is one of the main methods of providing psychological assistance. Ascending to the sociological survey technique called “in-depth interview”, a consultative conversation is a personality-oriented communication in which orientation is carried out in the personal characteristics and problems of the client, a partnership style of relationship is established and maintained (on an equal footing), the required psychological assistance is provided in accordance with needs, issues and nature of advisory work. Consultative conversation, depending on the stage of work, is initial, procedural, final and supporting. The tasks of the initial consultative conversation include: the location of the client to himself and the removal of tension; establishing contact; encouraging discussion of issues and identifying (if necessary) temporary and other opportunities for the client to work together; provision of information; establishment of working (collaborative, partnership) relations with the client - what is called “working contact”; encouragement of self-understanding, own activity and responsibility; setting realistic expectations for collaboration. One of the most difficult tasks is to encourage the client to talk about himself and his problems. Even if the client has confidence in the consultant and does not feel any interpersonal barriers, actions can be activated by activating resistance. psychological defenses, especially when a person is concerned about very personal, sometimes intimate problems. In addition, if the person did not ask for help himself, but was referred by another specialist, teacher or, most often, acquaintances or parents, resistance often represents a significant difficulty for the consultant. It is clear, among other things, that not a single person, no matter what age he may be, will come to another, a stranger, for no particular reason, just like that, “heart to heart” to talk about topics that cannot always be opened not only close friend, but also to yourself. Speaking out, recognizing the subjective barriers that the client had to overcome, expressing respect and a positive, understanding attitude in this regard, is one of the possible keys to reducing resistance. Questions related to the client's condition, to his sense of self in a counseling setting also help relieve stress. The main initial task of the psychologist-consultant is to serve as a catalyst, "facilitator" of the communication process. It is extremely important to feel a person, to catch his needs, experiences, the striving will deliberately demonstrate his needs and problems. No wonder Freud said that "the secret of man oozes through the pores of his skin." Although the client may not directly say what worries him most (in fact, sometimes he is not aware of his true problems), the very first meeting provides rich material for understanding the personality, probable problems and real, albeit latent, needs of the client.
Completion of the first consultation conversation- no less important than its beginning. The criteria for a positive completion of the first meeting is so important that in modern literature they are singled out as the basis for preference in choosing a psychologist and psychotherapist. Practice shows that it is the last minutes of the first meeting that can cause discomfort for both the consultant and the client. The main reason for the emergence of a feeling of disappointment, a feeling of incomprehensibility or treatment to the wrong address most often - with all equal and professionally impeccable parameters - is a feeling of incompleteness of the situation. In fact, a patient receives a referral from a doctor for an analysis or a prescription, from a lawyer - a consultation and a guide to action, and from a psychologist - deceived expectations: they not only did not write out a prescription, but did not even give advice ... Therefore, a very significant point is precisely verbal, signified completion of the meeting and conversation with the potential incompleteness of this situation.
Here are some key closing remarks:
Unfortunately, our time is up for today. Our next meeting, as we said, could be on Tuesday at 2 pm. If you make the final decision on our joint work in the scope that we have outlined, please
call me the day before.
Well, today we managed, if not completely, then at least in part, to see what is happening to you. I hope that our further work will deepen the process. So until Tuesday?
Today we talked about so much... And, you know, it seems to me that even more is left unsaid. If you really decide to deal with this situation, and in yourself, I will wait for your call until the end of the week in order to more accurately specify the date and schedule of our work.
The first meeting, the first consultative conversation introduces the client into the context of psychological assistance as specific in content and goals of psychosocial practice. Of course, it far from exhausts and even partially cannot cover the entire complex repertoire of psychotechniques that a psychologist uses, depending on the client's problems, the intensity and nature of psychological assistance, and his own preferences. The techniques of counseling and psychotherapeutic work will be discussed in detail in the following sections, where detailed analysis psychological paradigms used in the practice of psychological assistance. Now, according to the logic of presentation, we will characterize the main communication techniques, the possession of which is required in any, especially the first, consultative conversation, and we will explain some working and procedural points related to the situation of psychological assistance itself.
COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUES
IN ADVISORY CONVERSATION AND ETIQUETTE
It is well known that the less experienced the consultant, the more important communication techniques are for him. This is understandable: techniques and techniques allow you to avoid a feeling of uncertainty, “deviate” from the client behind the technical methods sanctioned by the authority of science and practice, resort to them in situations where the course of things is not entirely clear or when adherence to the chosen paradigm instills the idea that “ everything is going as it should”, about the controllability of the process, etc. However, as the practice of psychological care deepens, a psychologist, counselor or psychotherapist, for whom the well-being of the client, the content and evaluation of the results of activities, their own experience begins to become more important than the method of work chosen at the beginning or the preferred paradigm, may find that despite , for example, the requirement of an unconditionally positive attitude towards the client in the Rogerian tradition, to which they have always been faithful, this particular client does not in any way cause positive feelings, but even vice versa. Or a psychologist who prefers transpersonal psychology, in particular, psychosynthesis, discovers that in a particular case the concept of “subpersonalities” does not work, because emotional trauma captures the whole person, his entire personality, and not individual sides. In such cases, the emerging the cognitive dissonance leads to the fact that in the end they win individual style and professional experience. And most often - a certain generalized invariant containing communicative techniques and methods of a universal nature. Let us name the most common and most often provoked communication techniques in the situation of the first meeting.
Silence . Although silence, more or less long pauses, sometimes painful for an inexperienced specialist, seem at first an almost insurmountable obstacle, in fact it is one of the most important techniques in the process of providing psychological assistance. It must be able to comprehend, it is necessary to master it. The meaning of silence can be different: a sign of resistance, a sign of introspection, an expression of despair and hopelessness, or, conversely, the eve of insight. It is a great art to recognize the psychological and symbolic face of silence, the more effectively to dispose of it. The most common response techniques in a situation of silence: nod, repetition last words(their own or the client), paraphrasing the last statement (their own or the client); if the client continues to be silent, help him in expressing his state: “It is difficult for you to speak now”; “Maybe you don’t know how to react to this” or “Maybe it upset you.” As a last resort, if the silence continues, the counselor must respect the client's behavior and take it for granted.
epic hearing . The counselor listens attentively to the client, non-verbally or verbally expressing his adherence to the thoughts and feelings of the client, at times almost imperceptibly with a look, in a word, verbalizing, encouraging the client to deeper self-expression and self-disclosure. The basic rule of empathic listening (i.e. receiving, telling that the listener is experiencing the same feelings as the speaker) is not to sympathize, but to empathize, creating an emotional resonance with the client's experiences.
clarification . The technique is aimed at revealing the meaning (motivational, target, operational) for both the consultant and the client, his own actions. It helps to track the ambivalence of feelings and relationships, the features of the protective mechanisms used, thinking, etc.
Client. I feel bad. It's just bad, that's all.
Psychologist. Perhaps some feeling especially strongly forces you to focus on this particular formulation?
Client. Don't know.
Psychologist. Now, when you say “I don't know,” do you really only “don't know,” or are there other feelings as well?
Client: You see, it's so hard to talk about it... When my soul hurts, when I understand that no one can help... (crying).
Reflective verbalization . Refers to the varieties of verbalizations, the purpose of which is to enhance the emotional + semantic resonance of the client's statements. It is not intellectual, as in methodology, but rather emotional, which distinguishes a reflexive paraphrase from an interpretation. The content of reflexive verbalization reflects not the motivational-causal, but the emotional-modal layer of statements. There are different levels of reflexive verbalizations - from "echo-verbalizations" to "verbalizations-generalizations".
Interpretation. The technique of explaining (explaining) to the client the hidden meaning of his statements. An interpretation can be expressed in affirmative, propositional, or interrogative form. One of the most difficult and controversial techniques to evaluate, interpretation has an extremely powerful therapeutic potential, helping with correct use cope with anxiety, recognize or mitigate psychological defenses. The most productive way to use interpretations is to allow the client to interpret his own statements or behavior. Sometimes interpretation can look like “reading between the lines”.
Example. To the question about family life The client talked for a long time about what a wonderful wife he had.
Customer. She is an amazing woman... Simply amazing...
Psychologist. In that case, it must be hard to live with her?
Customer. Yes, damn it! Not that word...
Interpretation itself requires a special presentation technique. It is advisable to soften the interpretation with the words “possibly”, “probably”, “maybe”, “one gets the impression”; categoricalness can turn interpretation from a therapeutic communication technique into a means of exacerbating inadequate defenses and resistance.
Self-disclosure . The functions of this communicative technique are interpreted and used in different ways in different concepts of counseling and psychotherapy. In the humanistic paradigm, the psychologist's self-disclosure is interpreted as one of the fundamental techniques in establishing working relationships and facilitating the client's self-disclosure. In behavioral concepts, self-disclosure is understood as a kind of behavior modeling by a psychologist, the meaning of which is to reinforce the desired course of action on the part of the client. Be that as it may, the essential point in self-disclosure is the following: the technique should be applied not according to the principle “But I also, I remember, it was ...”, but in line with the flow of the client’s experiences, responding to his feelings and confirming that his experiences are understood and shared.
Confrontation . The technique is intended for the responsible exposure of contradictions, games, unrealistic defenses that make it difficult for the client to understand himself and lead to a dead end in a consultative conversation. Complex and requiring great skill in application (for example, it is not used at all in the Rogerian direction), the technique creates a certain tension in the conversation and therefore should be used with special art. Since it is capable of causing a feeling of pressure, excessive categoricalness, an accusatory tone, and evaluative judgments should be avoided. On the contrary, softness, neutrality, even some emotional detachment contribute to a more effective impact of this technique.
Customer. You know, I'm already consulting with you for the third time, and the impression is the same: either I<то не понимаю, или меня не хотят понять.
Psychologist (after a pause). Don't you think that one way to escape the stress of trying to understand is to visit psychologists? The benefit is multiple. The feeling of self-importance increases: after all, I am a mystery. Responsibility is removed from oneself - “let them think”, the decision is postponed, isn't it?
Summarizing. This technique is one of the most preferred at the end of the first meeting. The specificity of its application lies in the fact that it can be used as a real generalization and linking together sometimes inconsistent, fragmentary statements of the client and, conversely, by demonstrating the refusal to use final generalizations in order to emphasize the significance, complexity of the issues under discussion and the unwillingness of the counseling psychologist to simplify them. The current summing up, in contrast to the final one, helps to structure the process of a consultative conversation and set some semantic milestones. In addition to the purely professional, technical aspects of psychological assistance in the process of establishing relationships, during the first meeting, many seemingly insignificant, expressed and unspoken questions arise, which, nevertheless, should be foreseen and taken into account. Together, these questions characterize the professional behavioral etiquette of the consultant psychologist and the general atmosphere of the situation.
Let's consider the simplest of these questions.
Smoking. Sometimes customers, nervously, ask if it is possible to smoke. Denying smoking to a client is tactless. This may be perceived as pressure or unwanted restriction of freedom. Encouraging smoking is unhygienic and unhealthy. One acceptable behavior is to separate the process of smoking from the counseling conversation. The tact and appropriateness of motivations, the partner tone of the appeal will help relieve the tension that encourages the client to smoke.
Record keeping. Any method of fixing information (tape recordings, notes, etc.) must be discussed with the client without fail and unconditionally rejected at the slightest objection. However, after the end of the meeting, the psychologist has the right to record in his working diary significant moments of communication, behavior or experiences of the client in order to comprehend them and better prepare for the next meeting.
Frequent tardiness. If the client - more often, of course, a woman - is regularly late for a predetermined time, possible reasons for being late should be worked out: resistance, demonstration, decrease in motivation, etc. Lateness of a psychologist for a meeting, if it is not caused by an unfavorable set of circumstances, also requires, in addition to an apology, special study.
Payment questions. In cases where a psychologist consults in a private practice, the cost of services and the payment procedure (hourly, by result) should be specifically agreed in advance on mutually acceptable grounds. Due to the specifics of psychological assistance, the collection of fees for the services of a psychologist may not depend on the successful or other outcome of the psychologist's actions.
Client orientation in time. Practice shows that explaining to the client the time frame of work, including a general orientation in the possible terms of advisory work in general and the duration of each individual meeting, is an important moment both procedurally and behaviorally. The psychologist should feel free to inform the client about the end of the meeting time, analyzing the client's relationship with time, since there may be very important reasons for psychological work behind the corresponding behavior.
Clothes and image of the consultant. Clothing, appearance and behavior of a psychologist (male or female) must comply with generally accepted standards in society. Excessive make-up, too flashy, expensive or, on the contrary, too democratized clothes, an overtly official or deliberately casual style of behavior - all this can signal obvious or implicit personal problems of the specialist himself, undermining his credibility even before the start of joint work. Facial expression, eyes, mannerisms, clothing - everything should indicate a healthy lifestyle of a counseling psychologist, a balanced personality and instill confidence in the client that he can be helped.
PROCESS STAGES
AND OUTLOOK
Psychological assistance in all its varieties (from counseling to non-medical psychotherapy), if not limited to a single situational consultation, regardless of the form of implementation, individual or group, as a rule, goes through several stages.
This article will briefly describe those areas of psychology that are most often used today.
I will very simply try to explain the difference between approaches in psychological counseling.
Cognitive Behavioral Counseling
Let's start with cognitive-behavioral (cognitive-behavioral) therapy. Cognitions (thoughts, figurative representation) + behavior are laid down in us from the first days of life, and some are inherited with genes. Some help us to live and advance, others, on the contrary, create all sorts of obstacles, and it also happens that a person loses not only the meaning of life, but life itself.
I will give a very simple example from the educational material. The girl came to the psychologist with a complaint that her boyfriend does not give her flowers every day. It turns out that it is in her cognition that a man should behave in this way.
The psychologist suggests that she slightly change her perception and in the future (or at least try once) perceive the situation as “It would be nice if my man gave me flowers every day, well, or every other day.” With this approach, the situation will not look so critical and quite tolerable.
And here is an example with changes in the way of behavior. A woman came to a psychologist with a request to change at least something in her life. She is very tired, she works a lot, she has two children, her husband, her mother lives with them, there are scandals at home every day, she simply does not remember when there was silence in the house.
In this situation, the psychologist asks her to give an example of the most typical day in their family. Client: “I come home with heavy bags, cross the threshold and see that the garbage has not been taken out, the cat is hungry, the husband is sitting in front of the TV.”
In this situation, the psychologist may, for example, suggest that the client call before leaving the store to be met. And when you come home - before you start screaming - leave your bags, go wash your hands, make yourself (ONE!) tea or coffee or just drink juice, water, and after that start scolding everyone and everything. But if you want to, remember how often we scream in the heat, and when we calm down, we think “Why?”.
Again, I have described this direction very simply. In fact, everything is much more complicated, because it’s not in vain that they say “a habit is second nature”, and it’s not easy to get rid of it or at least change something a little bit. And the psychologist must also understand whether his interventions will cause even more harm, and how the client’s psyche is ready for change. After all, for some people, their habits are the only thing that keeps them afloat. The psychologist must be careful.
Desensitization and processing by eye movement EMDR EMDR
A psychotherapy developed by Francine Shapiro for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) caused by the experience of stressful events such as violence or participation in hostilities. When a person experiences a traumatic experience or distress, this experience can “overlap” the possibilities of his coping mechanisms, then the memory and stimuli associated with the event are processed inadequately and dysfunctionally stored in isolated areas of memory.
The goal of therapy is to process these stressful memories and allow the patient to develop more adaptive coping mechanisms. Recent studies are evaluating EMDH as an effective treatment for PTSD. A practice guide from the International Society for the Study of Stress categorizes EMDR as an effective treatment for PTSD in adults. Several international guidelines include EPDH as a recommended treatment after physical injury.
Gestalt approach
Gestalt (German Gestalt - image, figure) in counseling is a holistic approach to mental activity, as well as to the whole organism. We perceive the whole world around us as a background, and we single out the most important and significant for ourselves from the background - this is the “gestalt”. The phrase “gestalt closed” indicates that a person has satisfied his need for something that was important to him.
The more unclosed gestalts (unresolved situations, desires, needs) a person has, the more difficult it is for him to move forward. A person has a violation of the integrity of perception and sensation, he cannot unite feelings, thoughts and behavior.
The task of the Gestalt therapist is to use the techniques and exercises of Gestalt therapy to find the primary or main unfinished situation and respond to it at least symbolically.
Let me give you a simple example - an empty chair. The Gestalt consultant puts the client on a chair and puts an empty one in front of him, the client is offered to imagine that the one with whom the client has to resolve the conflict is sitting on the chair ...
Gestalt "prayer" by Fritz Perls:
I am me.
And you are you.
I am not in this world to live up to your expectations.
And you are not to live according to mine.
I am who I am.
And you are you.
Art therapy, creativity therapy
"I do not know what to talk about…". This phrase is often heard by psychologists working in various fields. Art therapists hear this too, but one of the advantages of art therapy is that it is not necessary to speak here.
To practice art therapy, you do not need to be able to draw, sculpt, dance. It is enough to have the desire to change your life for the better.
Art therapy is a very gentle form of psychological counseling. It is used to work with both adults and children. You can practice both individually and in a group.
With the help of art therapy, you can not only work through your phobias and anxieties, but also find internal resources, discover new opportunities for yourself.
An art therapist has many materials and techniques in his arsenal:
Diagnostic and psychotherapeutic tool mandala,
interactive technology,
group drawing,
stimulus drawing,
The combination of artistic expression with movement and dance, musical expression with performance, dramatic form,
Group games and exercises based on music,
Variety of sand therapy options,
Work with objects (subject sculpture, installation),
Landscape Art Therapy Techniques: Landscape Sculpture and Theatre,
Various options for working with clay, focused on bodily self-awareness,
body-oriented techniques,
Working with masks
Using the material of myths and fairy tales,
Phototherapy techniques and exercises for individual, pair and group work,
Phototherapeutic methods of working with psychic trauma,
Art therapy techniques focused on family resources,
Art therapy work with dreams.
And this is not the whole list.
If you have a desire to help yourself cope with difficulties, find internal resources to move forward, but for some reason it is difficult for you to talk about it, you should contact an art therapist.
existential psychology
Existential psychology (from Latin existentia - existence) is one of the areas of "humanistic psychology", which examines the relationship of man with life and death. Existential psychology is based on the uniqueness of each person.
Existential conflicts and existential anxiety arise from a person's confrontation with death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness.
One of the tasks of an existential psychologist is to restore harmony between the inner world and the outer.
In the practice of modern existential psychology, many achievements of psychoanalysis are used. The most prominent representatives of existential psychology are L. Binswanger, M. Boss, E. Minkowski, R. May, V. Frankl, J. Bugenthal.
How an existential psychologist works cannot be briefly described. But the method works great. It helps to find the meaning of life, and as a result, to find life!
Psychoanalysis
I am sure that every person who knows the word psychology will say the name of Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis next.
The time of the birth of psychoanalysis is considered to be the end of the nineteenth - the beginning of the twentieth century. And since then they have not stopped talking about psychoanalysis.
They talk a lot and always with a fuse (the psychoanalyst will say "excitedly"). He is scolded and accused of all mortal sins. He is hated and admired. Some despise him, others respect him. For some, psychoanalysis is a great opportunity to deal with problems, while for others it is something incomprehensible and frightening. I won’t even list how many myths and fantasies there are about psychoanalysis and money.
Now think about it, is it possible to talk about something that does not matter for more than a hundred years?
I will try to speak as popularly as possible about psychoanalysis.
Each of us knows that we do many things consciously. Freud noticed that deep unconscious actions, drives, desires are hidden behind conscious actions. While practicing as a doctor, he was faced with the fact that these unconscious desires can worsen life, and also be the cause of neuropsychiatric disorders. In trying to help his patients, Freud discovered in practice that the best way to heal a patient is to find the source of the conflict. Thus was born the method of healing the soul - psychoanalysis.
Freud often changed his views and beliefs about his theories, and he was not afraid to say that he was mistaken in something. His students and associates continued the work of Freud. And someone went their own way. Psychoanalysis does not stand still. It continues to develop, deepen and change along with the whole world.
Today, in addition to the classical theory of drives by Sigmund Freud, we also have ego psychology, the theory of object relations, Kleinian psychoanalysis, Structural psychoanalysis by J. Lacan, Self-psychology by H. Kohut, interpersonal psychoanalysis (G. S. Sullivan, Clara Thompson), Intersubjective approach (R. Stolorow), Jungian psychoanalysis.
If you decide that you need to contact a psychoanalyst, no matter what direction he works, you should ask him the following questions:
1. Does he have a document on retraining in the field of psychoanalytic counseling? (for practice in the psychoanalytic direction, it is not enough to have a higher psychological education).
2. Has he passed (is currently undergoing) a personal analysis (according to the standards, it is possible to conduct an appointment only after 65 hours of a personal analysis, and this requirement is justified in practice).
3. Does he have a supervisor (a specialist who corrects the work of a psychoanalyst).
4. In what community does the psychoanalyst to whom you applied belong.
All these questions must be answered by you. If you wish, you have the right to check any information about the specialist you are interested in in the community about which the specialist informed you.
If you were denied an answer to at least one of the above questions, or the organization has never heard of such a specialist, run as far as possible from such "psychoanalysts"!
Traditionally, there are four main types of psychological assistance:
1) psychoprophylaxis;
2) psychocorrection;
3) counseling;
4) psychotherapy.
Psychoprophylaxis is a field of medical psychology, the main task of which is to provide "specialized assistance to practically healthy people to prevent neuropsychiatric and psychosomatic diseases, as well as to alleviate acute psychotraumatic reactions."
Psychological correction is “an activity to correct (correct) those features of mental development that, according to the accepted system of criteria, do not correspond to the “optimal” model” 2 .
Psychological counseling is “a form of providing practical psychological assistance in the form of advice and recommendations based on a preliminary study of the problems that concern clients, as well as the study of the clients themselves and their relationships with other people.”
Psychotherapy - "a complex therapeutic verbal and non-verbal impact on emotions, judgments, self-awareness of a person with many mental, nervous and psychosomatic diseases" 4 . (This type of psychological assistance is not explored in this study guide).
The differences between each type of assistance are clearly visible when they are compared in terms of the following parameters: the purpose of the psychological impact, the methods used, the quality of the result (see Table 1).
Training of specialists is carried out in higher educational institutions and includes theoretical and practical components. The main theoretical components of the professional training of a psychologist include: knowledge of the general patterns of mental development; understanding of the main theories of personality; knowledge of personality types, stages of its development, the specifics of crisis situations corresponding to each of these stages and the features of psychological assistance at each of them. Practical professional skills are developed during workshops, supervision, master classes, as well as during future specialists' visits on their own initiative to training sessions in addition to the main program. Useful and essential
Table 1-Types of psychological assistance
| Type of psychological assistance | The purpose of the psychological impact | Methods | Result | ||||||
| 1. | Psychoprophylaxis | Prevention or leveling of possible mental disorders in the development and / or functioning of the personality | Informing the population. Mass surveys of the population. Psychological support | . Absence or leveling of mental disorders in personal development | |||||
| 2, | Psychocorrection | Associated with the concept of "norm" and is defined as "return" or "pulling up" the client to the proper level, based on his age and individual characteristics, as well as medical and social and cultural requirements | The choice of method depends on the psychotherapeutic direction to which the specialist belongs. | Correction of mental characteristics: developments that do not correspond to the norm | |||||
| 3. | Psychological counseling | Awareness by the client of the essence of the problem and ways to solve it | Specially arranged conversation | Awareness by the client of the true cause of the problem and the best ways to solve it" | |||||
| 4. | Psychotherapy: | Harmonization of the client's relationship with himself and society | |||||||
| clinical | Hypnosis, auto-training, suggestion, self-hypnosis, rational therapy; | Mitigation or elimination of existing symptoms | |||||||
| student-centered | "Various options for analyzing the patient's conflict experiences" 5 | "Change in the attitude of the client to the social environment and self" 6 | |||||||
also for future successful activity, the passage of "purgatory" in the form of individual psychotherapy and group trainings for personal growth in order to solve their own psychological problems, that is, the specialist must have theoretical knowledge, practical skills and psychological health. As a result of the synthesis of these areas, he must decide on the choice of psychological direction, within which he will further specialize. Professional development, of course, will be facilitated by membership in any professional community, for example, in the Professional Psychotherapeutic League (PPL).
In addition to the fact that a specialist must be a specialist, he must be a person. Freud also wrote that, in his opinion, any educated person can be a psychotherapist. The very word "any" certainly evokes contradictory associations, but in its main idea this idea is interesting. And if you are now distracted from reading for a while and plunge into the waves of memories, then you may remember some moments from your life or the lives of your loved ones, when a kind word, a look, and sometimes just a silent participation of a significant person helped, saved in a difficult situation.
Personal qualities. Researchers in. areas of psychology at different times singled out personal qualities, in their opinion, necessary for a specialist to successfully provide psychological assistance to clients. The result is the following list: empathy, emotional warmth, positive attitude (Carl Rogers), sincerity (Rogers, Troyes), a sense of humor, a sense of the tragedy of being (Miguel de Unamuno), concreteness, self-awareness and reflection. Let's consider each of them in more detail.
Empathy. It is defined as "comprehension of the emotional state, penetration - empathy into the experiences of another person." However, it should be understood that we can never fully feel into the world of another person. But what we can and must do is to put aside our opinions, views, experiences and enter into the world of another person without bringing our own world into it. Such a non-judgmental attitude, which is mandatory when providing psychological assistance, will make communication at any level (personal, family, business) more pleasant and useful.
Emotional warmth. This quality implies a true interest in other people. Close to sincerity, but not identical. Emotional warmth can be viewed rather from the position of orientation and quality of attitude towards people. However, there is always a risk of meeting a person who perceives this as a sign of weakness.
Positive attitude. Equivalent to a term coined by Carl Rogers, "an unconditional positive attitude." From his point of view, this quality is one of the necessary conditions for therapeutic changes. The main emphasis here is on the unconditional (unconditional) acceptance of the client by the psychologist.
Sincerity. This is the quality that cannot be faked. Even without special psychological skills, people almost always accurately distinguish sincerity from falsehood, since sincerity is, first of all, purity of intention.
Sense of humor. In The Art of Love * Ovid, listing the qualities that a man should have, among others, also names a sense of humor, adding that it is not necessary, but its presence makes a person almost perfect. And this is quite fair. Remember how exactly this quality more than once, weakening the tension of the moment, saved you in dangerous, difficult, hopeless situations: “Laughter is one of the most powerful weapons against everything that has become obsolete” (A. Herzen).
Concreteness. Concreteness, in the psychotherapeutic sense, is understood as the ability not only to listen, but to hear the words of another person) without interpreting what is said, but clarifying it.
Self-awareness and reflection. Self-consciousness is “the experience of the unity and specificity of the Self as a being” endowed with thoughts, feelings, desires, opposite to the awareness of the external world (object)”. Reflection is “the process of understanding something by a person through study and comparison”. In a narrow sense - a "new turn" of the spirit after the accomplishment of a cognitive act to the Self (as the center of the act) and its microcosm, due to which the appropriation of the known becomes possible. It is thanks to the combination of these abilities that the development of personal and professional qualities is achieved. One does not always imply the other, but technicality, not sanctified by spirituality, is nothing, since the main therapeutic tool is yourself, and your therapeutic style is the uniqueness of you as a person.
Based on the foregoing, we can state that the availability of professional competence of a specialist is an issue that is not discussed. The specialist must be a professional. However, any competence will lose its meaning if, in essence, he is not a Person whose name sounds proud.
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The main activities of the psychological service
CONSULTING is:
Identification and resolution of conflict situations
Assistance in solving personal problems
Development of interpersonal relationships
PSYCHODIAGNOSIS is:
the opportunity to obtain accurate scientifically based information about yourself, your potential and professional abilities, personal characteristics, individual characteristics, etc.
TRAINING is:
assistance in self-development and self-education, etc.
INFORMATION AND EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY is:
Organization of lectures and informative seminars aimed at improving psychological literacy, special organization of free time, trainings for a positive life attitude, social modeling.
CORRECTION AND DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES are:
Solving personal psychological problems
Formation of effective communication skills
Correction of personal qualities and skills
Assistance in self-development and self-education.
The concept of "psychological assistance". The main types of psychological assistance
Psychological assistance is an area of practical application of psychology, focused on improving the socio-psychological competence of people and providing psychological assistance, both to an individual and to a group, organization. This is direct work with people aimed at solving various kinds of psychological problems associated with difficulties in interpersonal relationships, as well as deep personal problems.
Types of psychological assistance
§ Psychoprophylaxis (prevention).
§ Psychological education (in counseling, in psychoprophylaxis - lectures, seminars) Adler was one of the leading experts in this field.
§ Psychodiagnostics (identification of problems and other psychological indicators).
§ Psychological counseling (psychological assistance to people who are within the psychological norm in adaptation, development and expansion of personal potential).
§ Psychotherapy (aimed at solving deep personal problems and deep personality transformation), can be clinical and non-clinical.
§ Psychiatry (a medical form of assistance, the use of medications, or humanistic psychiatry, which considers a person not as a patient, but as a person with a different worldview, uses medications to a limited extent, therefore, follows the psychotherapeutic path).
§ Psychocorrection (restoration of the norm, both from the point of view of the emotional state, and from the point of view of personality traits).
Types of psychological assistance cannot be strictly diluted. There are areas of intersection. The criterion is who provides assistance (difference in education), with whom the specialist works with a client or patient (adaptation is the norm criterion), what helps (use of drugs, psychotherapeutic, counseling techniques)
Principles of psychological assistance
As in many professions, in the activities of a psychologist, when providing them with psychological assistance, there are some principles and requirements, the implementation of which is mandatory. The existence of various ethical codes for the activities of a professional psychologist in various countries and psychological communities is due to the fact that there are no unambiguous and simple answers to the ethical and moral problems that arise in psychological practice. These principles are necessary to ensure that the provision of psychological assistance is not only more effective and meaningful, but also socially acceptable. Many works on this topic discuss various difficult situations, in particular - how should a consultant behave if during the reception he learns that his client is plotting or committed an antisocial act, if he sees signs of beatings or other violence on the body of a child, if parents want to know something about their secretive teenage child, as well as many others. In some countries, such as the USA, non-compliance with professional principles and requirements can lead to the loss of a psychologist's diploma, the right to practice and offer his professional services, etc.
Among the most important ethical principles of psychological assistance (according to Yu. Alyoshina), the following are traditionally distinguished:
1. A benevolent and nonjudgmental attitude towards the client implies "a whole range of professional behavior aimed at making the client feel calm and comfortable." The counselor must be able to listen carefully to the client (for example, using the technique of active listening), trying to understand him without judging, as well as provide psychological support and assistance.
2. The orientation of the psychologist to the norms and values of the client, and not to socially accepted norms and rules, which can allow the client to be sincere and open. The relationship of accepting and respecting the client's values is not only an opportunity to express support for the client, but also allows you to influence these values in the future if they become seen in the counseling process as an obstacle to the normal life of a person.
3. Prohibition to give advice. A psychologist, despite his professional and life experience and knowledge, cannot give guaranteed advice to a client, in particular because the client's life and the context of its course are unique and unpredictable, and the client is the main expert in his own life, while psychologist - usually acts as an expert in other areas, in particular in ways of building relationships with a client, as well as in the theory of psychological assistance. In addition, giving advice means taking responsibility for the life of the client if he uses it, which does not contribute to the development of his personality. In addition, when giving advice, the psychologist's professional position may change, and when accepting advice, the client's position may change towards greater passivity and a superficial attitude to what is happening. Often at the same time, any failures in the implementation of the advice by the client can be attributed to the psychologist as the authority who gave advice, which prevents the client from understanding his active and responsible role in the events happening to him.
4. Anonymity, meaning that no information provided by the client to the psychologist can be transferred without his consent to any organizations and other persons, including relatives or friends. At the same time, there are exceptions (about which the psychologist must warn the client in advance), specially noted in the legislation of the country, in accordance with the laws of which the professional activity of the psychologist is carried out.
5. The distinction between personal and professional relationships is a principle-requirement for a consultant, associated with a number of psychological phenomena that affect the process of psychological assistance. For example, it is known that professional relationships can be strongly influenced by personal relationships, in particular, the personal needs and desires of a psychologist affect both the process of psychological assistance and the client himself, and therefore may hinder the effective implementation of psychological assistance. There are various studies of these influences (see, for example, the phenomena of transference and countertransference). At the end of the 20th century, there were discussions on this problem, various consequences of the entry of a psychologist and a client into personal relationships, including sexual relationships, were analyzed, but the main conclusion from these discussions was the position that when a psychologist carries out professional activities, personal relationships should be avoided if possible. . If such or similar relationships appear, then it is necessary to try to act in the interests of the client and interrupt the process of psychological assistance as soon as possible.